The present invention relates to fuel burners such as are used in industrial furnaces. More particularly, the present invention relates to fuel reactors wherein the combustion process is regulated to control the flame characteristics.
It is very difficult to design and build efficient furnaces when efficient burners are not available. For many years people have tried to develop combustion methods capable of effectively controlling the formation of pollutants such as nitrogen oxides (NO.sub.x) which in turn oroduce photochemical oxidants. However, a furnace design cannot control the pollution emissions. These must be controlled in the burner.
A high flame temperature in the burner will create the optimum condition for the atomic nitrogen in the combustion air to combine with the oxyqen. Once NO is formed, the poisonous NO.sub.2 is unavoidable.
One method which has been tried to eliminate the formation of NO.sub.x is to maintain a low flame temperature. However, in most cases the methods which have been developed cause imperfect combustion thus generating carbon monoxide, another deadly pollutant.
Another problem associated with many types of conventional fuel burners is their inefficiency which can result in incomplete combustion. This often gives rise to soot deposits in the flue and also in the discharge of particulate matter into the atmosphere.
Another problem associated with conventional fuel burners is the lack of control over the momentum of the flame. Many burners are nothing more than a large torch and it is difficult to control the direction and amplitude of the flame. This causes problems in furnace design where the flame momentum must he known in order to efficiently design the size and configuration of the furnace.
In view of the foregoing it is apparent that what is needed in the art is a fuel reactor which maintains a lower temperature to avoid the formation of nitrogen oxides while maintaining complete combustion of the reactants. It is also evident that it would be a significant advancement in the art to provide a fuel reactor which permits control of the flame characteristics such as the flame momentum. Such a reactor is disclosed and claimed herein.